Ninth-inning heroics help TCU overcome UT-Arlington in battle of DFW teams

TCU scored a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off of UT-Arlington closer Andrew Gross, the game winner coming on a balk, as the Horned Frogs rallied for a 3-2 non-conference win Tuesday at Lupton Stadium.

Gross, who leads the nation with 12 saves, got the final out of the eighth on a strikeout and the first two outs of the ninth on a ground out to second and a strikeout swinging.

But backup catcher and ninth place hitter Zach Humphreys singled to right to keep the inning going. Hunter Wolfe followed with a single before Josh Watson laced a double down the left field line to tie the game at 2.

“I went up there and with that side arm guy I was just looking to take the ball the other way,” said Watson who went 3 for 5 at the plate. “We’ve faced him before and he’s really good, so I just wanted to take a nice short swing and take the ball to the other side of the field.”

With runners at first and third the Mavericks opted to walk Jake Guenther, but Austin Henry never saw a pitch as the second base umpire emphatically called a balk on Gross allowing Wolfe to trot in with the game winner.

“We’re never out of it as a team,” said Watson. “That’s what’s awesome about these guys. We battle to the very last pitch.”

Zac Cook opened the top of the 8th with a single to center for the Mavericks. The junior from Flower Mound Marcus took second on an errant pickoff throw and third on a wild pitch by Frogs reliever Spencer Arrighetti.

Dalton Brown relieved Arrighetti and struck out the next two UT-Arlington batters, but a wild pitch on a 2-1 count to Tyler Rice scored Cook to give the Mavs a 2-1 lead.

Both TCU and UT-Arlington got strong starting performances from little used pitchers.

Dawson Barr of TCU (18-9, 3-3 Big 12) and Drew Gooch of UT-Arlington (19-11, 7-2 Sun Belt) had only thrown 17 2/3 innings between them, but combined for 9 2/3 scoreless on the night.

Gooch, a senior from Argyle High School, threw 5 2/3 innings for the Mavericks scattering 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 2.

Following a double play in the TCU half of the sixth, Gooch, who threw 84 pitches on the night, allowed a walk to Henry and a single to left by Johnny Rizer. Mavericks head coach Darin Thomas then called on Michael Wong who promptly struck out Alex Isola to end the inning.

Barr, a freshman from Flower Mound who played at Argyle Liberty Christian, threw 60 pitches over 4+ innings allowing 5 hits, 3 walks, hitting a batter, and striking out 3.

Barr, making his second consecutive mid-week start, worked out of trouble in the first two innings, loading the bases in both frames.

A Will Olson single for the Mavericks was sandwiched between two strikeouts by Barr, but Barr then walked Anthony Dominguez and hit Cook with a pitch. Barr struck out the side getting Josh Minjarez on three pitches to end the threat.

A one-out walk to Rice followed by consecutive singles by Aaron Funk and Mav’s leading hitter Connor Aube allowed UT-Arlington to load the bases again in the second. But Barr induced a pop out to third and a grounder to short, just nipping the runner at first, to keep the game scoreless.

Consecutive singles by Isola and Conner Shepherd put runners at first and third for the Frogs with one out in the second. But an around-the-horn double play turned by the Mavericks got Gooch out of the inning.

UT-Arlington scratched across a run in the top of the fifth when Andrew Miller lined a single to center off Horned Frogs reliever Haylen Green to score Olson.

Aube, who went 3 for 5 for the Mavs, had opened the inning with a single, chasing Barr, and Olson then singled to right. Aube, however, was tossed out at third after being picked off of second allowing Olson to move up.

TCU tied the game in the bottom of the 7th.

Shortstop Adam Oviedo lined a 0-1 pitch down the left field line for a double with one out. Following a fly out to center, Wolfe hit a soft liner to left center to score Oviedo.

TCU came in hitting .311 as a team, ranking 9th nationally, and improved that going 13-35 (.371).

TCU defeated UT-Arlington 5-3 on March 19 at Globe Life Park. The teams will meet for the third and final time on April 16 at Clay Gould Ballpark in Arlington.

Both teams will resume conference play April 5-7. The Horned Frogs will continue Big 12 play at Oklahoma. UT-Arlington will host Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference.